Stream the New Memory Tapes on the Quietus
Today’s good get goes to the folks at The Quietus, who’ve managed to snag us all a streaming preview of Player Piano, the new album by Memory Tapes, due out on July 4/5. After all the doom and gloom that comprised the vast majority of releases from late Spring, this is one hell of a pick-me-up, and for Memory Tapes in particular, it’s been a long time coming. The release of 2009’s Seek Magic fell largely on deaf ears, buried like many other deconstructed-sounding indierock albums under the never-ending din of praise for Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion. Looking back now, such an oversight was perhaps a boon to Tape’s Dayve Hawk; what little press he received was overwhelmingly positive, but there was ultimately very little pressure on him to step into the foreground. Now here we are two years later, however, with the natural evolution of Hawk’s music sounding tighter than ever, still quite deserving of all its amassed praise, and little to distract attention away from what amounts to an outstanding sophomore release. This is an album that’s pretty much built of sound in the color of Summertimes past, present, and who knows, maybe even future. Give the album a listen—and have a look at Hawk’s own guide, song-by-song—here. Also, check out the video for the album’s first single, “Yes I Know” below.
Memory Tapes “Yes I Know” from Najork on Vimeo.
Sun Araw | “Crete”
For the experimental rock set, Los Angeles-based Sun Araw has been a mainstay in the ever-expanding world of nouveau psych and prog for quite some time, but it was his 2010 album, On Patrol (Woodsist) which really catapulted him into the fore, earning rave reviews and quite a few comparisons to some pretty important predecessors (we’re looking at you, Holger Czukay). With that in mind, it’s very exciting to learn that Araw—neé Cameron Stallones—is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and plans to release his fifth album, titled Ancient Romans, on his own Sun Ark Records (via Drag City) on August 23. In advance of this release, he recently made one of the album cuts, titled “Crete”, available on his website—you can download/ listen to it here!
Friday’s extra flavor is a bit of secondhand that came late in the day, but it means a little something new for you all. I’ve got about as much info on these guys as you do right now, but it’s always nice to have some homework to do. This is a San Francisco-based band called The Soft Moon who are, by all accounts, damn awesome. I have a terrible soft spot for shoegazer, and this one comes with a huge no wave streak, so I’m glad to hand this one along just on first impressions alone.
By the way, have I mentioned just how much I love it when people turn me on to new, amazing music?
I don’t even know how to pass on the thanks except to say that Cam (who ought to have a music blog of his own, dammit) from Groundscore delivers—and totally made my day.
